The Sower

             When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that,

“‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
    and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’”

Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? The farmer sows the word. Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy.  But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.” (Mark 4:10-20)

We’ve all heard the original parable and Jesus’ explanation of it a thousand times. I suspect we’re all tempted to say, “Yeah, yeah, yeah… we were good soil and we have the crop of salvation. We’re in the kingdom of God.” What will it take to hear it again for the first time?Seven weeks ago, I planted lots of vegetables, herbs, and flowers in my backyard. Perhaps two weeks ago, I planted lots of flowers in two beds in my front yard. I made sure the soil was good. If my squashes and flowers could speak, they might say, “We’ve been planted. The sower has scattered the seed on good ground. Mission accomplished.”

I still fretted about their growth, or lack thereof. I’m still fretting about my squashes and the flowers in the front. They’re not growing. They’re so little. I can’t even tell which flowers have sprouted. But again, my squashes and flowers might say, “We’ve sprouted. Mission accomplished.”

My squashes have even produced flowers. Again, they could say, “We’ve flowered! Mission accomplished.”

But I’m not satisfied with their accomplishments. I want those zucchini that are so numerous that my neighbors lock their car doors to keep me from leaving them a gift. I want flowers that I can enjoy, harvest for further enjoyment, and with which I can help the environment by providing food for pollinators. And ultimately, I want them to produce seeds that will either produce a new crop by itself, or that I can save to plant next spring. Until the plants have produced crops of some sort, I’m not satisfied.

When we are satisfied because God’s Word has produced eternal life in us, it’s like being satisfied that the flower seed has germinated. The sower is likely to be pleased, but it’s not enough. It’s not done. There’s still a crop to be produced.

Crops can take different forms, as with the flowers and squashes I’ve mentioned. The sower means the crops to serve two needs: the plant's needs and the sower's needs. Neither is met until the crop is produced. And some crops are boring even though they’re useful, while others are beautiful, but accomplish far less. The kingdom of God doesn’t seem to focus on one kind or the other, but a crop must be produced, because that’s what a seed is meant to do.